VoIP services can save you hundreds of dollars a year on your phone bills. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and if you're using a high-speed internet connection to view this page, you have just about everything you need to start using one of these services. VoIP technology makes calls the same way your computer sends and receives data, only there's no computer involved, just an adapter or VoIP phone provided by the VoIP service. Using the tremendous capacity of the Internet to send and receive calls allows VoIP companies to avoid passing on the charges associated with traditional telephone services. Your calls come through just as they normally would; the only difference is what you'll be paying. Our VoIP reviews and comparison chart look at the most important differences between the companies. For more information on VoIP services, read our VoIP FAQ. Want to realize great VoIP savings but prefer to stick with your landline? Check out these other VoIP solutions.
Vonage Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
[Editor's Note: Vonage has set up an exclusive 800 number where NextAdvisor.com visitors can speak to a Vonage representative to ask questions and ensure they get the latest and best deal possible. If you are interested in ordering Vonage we recommend that you call the number: 1-888-692-8076.]
Vonage's new Vonage World plan has significantly widened the distance between Vonage and other VoIP providers. At only $14.99 per month for the first 6 months, and then $25.99 per month afterwards* (with 1 year agreement plus fees & taxes), Vonage World includes unlimited calling to anywhere in the U.S. and over 60 other countries (see list at the bottom of this review). Not only that, but they've added some great new features as well.
Vonage's welcome package comes in a very Apple-esque box which unfolds to reveal your Vonage adapter, ethernet cable, power supply, and two guides, one of which is designed to get you up and running quickly. And it really does too. We had no problems with the installation. All the ports on the adapter are color coded and labeled.
The adapter itself is pretty neat. It's a little retro; its black body with orange stripe make it look like it came from the 80s, but it's far and away better than any of the adapters offered by other companies. After a frustrating experience with a competitor's adapter, it was nice to see the Vonage adapter tell us exactly what it was doing in the setup process. Once it's powered on, little LCD icons tell you if there's a phone, Internet, and computer connection. It also provides access to important Network information, should you need to diagnose any problems.
We had no real complaints about Vonage call quality. Everything was pretty clear. When tested with the same phone against the analog line, neither us nor our callers could distinguish any big difference. VoIP, in general, may sound a bit colder than a normal landline, but in an age of cell phones we doubt anyone will really notice.
From a customer service standpoint, Vonage is ok. When calling the billing line there's a voice-recognition system to get you to the appropriate place. It can be a bit of a maze. The support itself is outsourced and a bit scripted, but generally helpful.
The new Vonage World plan also adds some incredibly useful and cool new voicemail features that further cement its position as the VoIP leader. Users of Apple's iPhone will immediately understand the huge benefits of Vonage Visual Voicemail. Rather than having to call up a number and listen to each voicemail individually, users can simply log into their Vonage account and see who called, when and the length of the message. This can be an incredible time-saver for heavy voicemail users. The other extremely useful feature that Vonage World has is free text transcription of all your voicemails. So you can have the text (and of course the audio as well) of any new voicemail emailed to you as soon as it arrives. This service is particularly good for highly mobile people and enables you to get your voicemails in places you normally couldn't. While the transcriptions aren't always perfect, they almost always give you a clear understanding of the message.
Of course, Vonage still provides the highest quality service of any of our recommended providers. Despite the addition of 60 countries and the new voicemail features, the Vonage World plan (which replaces the old Vonage Residential Unlimited plan) is still just $14.99 per month for the first 6 months then only $25.99 per month afterwards. It includes free activation and a free V-Portal adapter with free shipping. With the addition of the free international calling, we believe Vonage World will now save many people not just hundreds, but thousands of dollars a year compared to traditional phone service. Also, Vonage is the only VoIP provider we recommend that does not require you to use a credit card (you can pay from your checking account instead). Vonage still has its 500 minute plan priced at $17.99 per month, but it does not include unlimited calling to the 60+ countries or the new voicemail features, and the set-up fees are not waived. Users of this plan can, however, get a free reconditioned adapter. This plan could still be the best option for low-volume, domestic-only caller, but the Vonage World plan will be a better option for most consumers.
Vonage is free to cancel within 30 days. After that it's a year contract. Even though you pay monthly, if you decide to cancel you'll incur a $39.99 disconnect fee, and an additional $35.00 rebate recovery fee for the adapter. This is actually lower than the rebate recovery fees charged by many of its competitors.
Below is the full alphabetical list of countries included in Vonage World. The ** indicates that calls to mobile phones are also included:
Andorra
Argentina
Australia (excl. External Territories)
Austria
Bahamas**
Bahrain
Belgium
Brazil
Brunei**
Bulgaria
Canada**
Chile
China**
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guadeloupe
Guam**
Hong Kong**
Hungary
Iceland
India**
Iraq
Ireland
Israel (non Paltel)
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Latvia
Luxembourg
Macau**
Macedonia
Malaysia**
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico**
Romania
Russia
Saipan**
San Marino**
Singapore**
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand**
Turkey
U.S. Virgin Islands**
United Kingdom
Venezuela
Zambia
Disclaimer: Excludes certain call types such as calls to non-geographic and premium numbers. Calls to cell phones may be included depending on destination (they're included if they have a ** in our list). Subject to change.
*With 1-year agreement. Plan is $14.99 for the first 6 months, then only $25.99 per month. Rates exclude Internet service, surcharges, fees and taxes. Limited time offer; new lines only. See Vonage.com for complete details.
High-speed Internet required. Unlimited calling subject to normal residential use. Vonage 911 service operates differently than traditional 911. See www.vonage.com/911 for details. Alarms, TTY and other systems may not be compatible.
Phone Power Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
Phone Power is a relative newcomer to the VoIP landscape but has hit a sweet spot in the market with their nice range of very cheap plans. For those that aren't afraid of a longer term commitment and are looking for a good value on domestic calling, Phone Power provides two years of service for just about $200.00.
Phone Power is one of the few VoIP providers to offer a VoIP adapter other than the standard Linksys model. The Grandstream router that's included is a little finicky though. It did not like being plugged into our Apple Airport, and had trouble with our office router too. It was fine when it was plugged in directly to our Linksys wireless router. We mention this little caveat because if you have any kind of unconventional setup, Phone Power is a little unforgiving without some tinkering.
Once we got it set up, Phone Power was fine. It delivered acceptable voice performance. It has all the standard features such as voicemail to email, caller ID, call waiting, and conference calling. All this comes in pretty inexpensively too; if you can stand the two-year commitment you'll pay the equivalent of $8.33 per month for unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada, though you'll pay all of that up front, a total of $253.27 after fees, shipping, and taxes. While that may seem like a lot to pay up front, there is a 30-day guarantee if the service fails to meet your expectations (your first month, equivalent to $19.95, is non-refundable, as are shipping charges). There are a host of other options ranging from $14.95 to $19.95 per month, if you don't want to pay upfront or you want a month-to-month plan. It's also worth noting that in our rate-comparison test, Phone Power had the overall lowest international rates of any provider (though we suggest you check their site to check the prices on the countries you call the most).
Just note that if you cancel after 30 days you'll have to pay the remaining part of your contract, or a $99.95 disconnect fee (whichever is less).
Included are the now-standard VoIP features such as conference calling, caller ID, voicemail to email, and call waiting. You also get a cloned second line, which allows two lines to share the same number. This means incoming calls will be routed to either connected line, even if one is busy. Likewise, you can also call out while the other line is in use.
Phone Power's technical support is based in the United States. We had to leave a call-back number. It took several hours for our call to be returned; support was thorough, however.
Phone Power's plan is pretty inexpensive, if you're ok with the long commitment. Still, we would also recommend looking at ViaTalk (particularly if you use an Apple Airport for your home networking), although its setup fees are a bit steeper. Both are good plans and have their advantages.
ViaTalk Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
ViaTalk will not win any awards for the presentation of its product. The little LinkSys VoIP adapter comes in a standard Priority Mail box, with just its cables, and an introductory letter. If there were any instructions we must have somehow lost them. It's ok, we located the help docs on their website and the directions were simple. We plugged in three cables, and we had phone service.
ViaTalk's big selling point is its cheap monthly plan. It comes down to $9.95 a month, for unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada. It also includes 60 minutes of free international calling to 60 countries. However, sign up for pre-payment and for your first year you'll be paying an equivalent of $8.25 per month, that's $99.00 up front. An additional year of service can be added for $79.00. Whether you prepay or pay monthly, there's a $29.95 activation cost and $9.95 shipping charge (unless you bring your own VoIP adapter). For an additional $8.95 per month you can have 1200 minutes of calling to over 60 countries, mostly landlines.
In action, ViaTalk was quite nice. In fact, we felt it sounded crisper and warmer than Vonage did. It does take a little longer for calls to connect, between dialing and ringing. This may well have something to do with the fact that Vonage connects directly to the modem, whereas ViaTalk goes through your router first.
Our only real complaint about ViaTalk's hardware is that its VoIP adapter only allows for a downstream connection, meaning it cannot receive the connection directly from your cable modem and then split off to your router. Instead, it must receive its connection from the router. It just limits the ways in which you can configure your setup, but it won't affect many people.
ViaTalk has the fairly standard set of features such as voicemail to email, do not disturb, and caller ID block. You also get two lines at the same number, a very convenient feature for busy households.
ViaTalk's technical support was fast and helpful when we called. We left our callback number and received a call within five minutes. The non-outsourced support was very friendly. On subsequent tries we faced much longer waits when trying to contact someone in sales and billing; she was friendly, if slightly confused about their offerings.
There's a 14-day money back guarantee that begins the day you receive your equipment, though it does not cover your activation or shipping fees. If you cancel after that, ViaTalk does offer a pro-rated refund for unused months, but there's a $49.95 disconnect fee. This applies even if you pay monthly, since it's a year-long contract.
Its main competitor in this price class is PhonePower. Potential customers will have to weight the advantages of each. ViaTalk's call quality, support-call return time, pro-rated refund and 60-minutes of free world calling are great. The only real disappointment is the relatively short money-back period, the slight delay between dialing and ringing, and the one-time setup fee.
Lingo Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
While the important thing with VoIP is always call quality, we can't help but notice when a product is well packaged and presented. Lingo sends you a nice little package and a slick, fairly detailed instruction booklet. The Lingo hardware itself is not remarkable; it's the fairly standard Linksys VoIP router. The setup is very thorough, just about the opposite of ViaTalk's four steps. The steps here are very exact, and we suggest you follow them to the letter.
Still, we were up and running with Lingo shortly. Call quality seemed ok, though maybe not as nice as ViaTalk's. There was a slightly far-away staticky sound, though it was otherwise audible. As with ViaTalk, there's a bit of a delay between dialing and ringing.
Lingo offers a cheap first month ($4.95) with additional months coming in at $21.95 on the Lingo Smart Talk plan, which provides free unlimited calling to the 30 countries listed below. You also get 500 minutes to India. It doesn't include calls to cell phones in most countries, a common limitation. $19.95 per month covers calls across the U.S. and Canada.
Lingo has a 30-day money back guarantee. As usual, certain fees will not be included in the refund amount. You have to call them to cancel (a slight nightmare described below). After that 30-day period elapses, you'll be signed up for a two-year commitment, with fees paid monthly. If you decide to quit during those two years, $24.95 is charged as a disconnect fee, in addition to a rebate recovery fee which will include charges for the discounted first month, the equipment, and the waived activation fee. It promises not to be over $75.00, and for our plan it would have been $62.00. All-in-all you'll be playing close to $100 if you cancel outside of the guarantee period.
Lingo's outsourced tech support was easily reached, but it was scripted and trying. Cancelation was particularly frustrating, as they try to start your 30-day trial period from the order date, and not the day you received your equipment. Cancelation also requires that you go to two different extensions, the second of which seems engineered to force you to give up.
Included with the Smart Talk plan is a free month of Lingo Unwired, a service that allows you to use your cellular phone to take advantage of your unlimited international calling. Once you register your cellular phone number with Lingo, you're given a discount calling number. You will pay any airtime charges that your cell phone carrier charges for a call to Virginia, but not international calling rates. We tried it on a few local calls to get a feel for sound quality. Calls sounded a little squelched and distant at times, but it's not a bad alternative given the costs usually associated with calling internationally from a cell phone. Of course, this still won't allow you to call other cell phones. And after the free month, it's $9.95 per month.
Lingo comes out cheaper than Vonage, but international calling, at least, is more limited. Lingo's two-year commitment is a bit long, and may give some potential customers pause, particularly when cancelation after the 30-day period is nearly $100.00. We also give it some knocks for the hassle we experienced during cancelation.
Countries covered by Lingo Smart Talk. The ** indicates that calls to mobile phones are also included:
Argentina (Buenos Aires only)
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo only)
Canada
China (mobiles included)
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hong Kong (mobiles included)
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Russia (Moscow only)
Singapore
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
UK
US Virgin Islands
USA
Venezuela (Caracas only)
8x8 Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
8x8, aka Packet8, is a VoIP provider which seems to offer a compelling twist: instead of the boring, old VoIP adapter you get from most companies, you can opt for a Uniden cordless phone with VoIP adapter handset. Now, you can still get the VoIP adapter, but the idea of a new phone sounded like fun to us. This review will focus on our experience with that phone.
While it's not exactly a scientific law, there seems to be a relationship between the quality of a product and how easy it is to remove said product from the package. On the one hand, there's the Apple iPhone: easy to unbox and fun to use. On the other hand there's the Uniden cordless VoIP phone that comes from 8x8. It arrived in a giant plastic blisterpack that required a jackknife and several minutes to open. Not only is all that plastic bad news for the environment, it nearly cut open the hands of our reviewer.
Once it was out of the plastic, setup was remarkably easy. That's the good news. Sadly, the call quality on this cordless phone is substandard. It's hard to say if it's the service or the phone, though we're betting on the latter. It sounded staticky and canned.
Taking the phone out of the equation, there are a few things we can say specifically about the service. On the plus side, it's the only VoIP provider we found that allows for seven-digit calling. That means that for local calls, you won't need to type in the area code (an annoyance we've found with other VoIP providers). There was also a much shorter delay between dialing and ringing than we encountered with some other services. On the minus side, it lacks the enormous feature set that some providers offer. It's limited to the basics like call waiting, voicemail, and caller ID blocking.
All this comes in at a pretty high price point, with some pretty high cancelation fees. Unlimited calls in the US and Canada will cost you $24.99 per month with a $29.99 setup fee, which locks you into a 12-month contract. There's better pricing if you pay upfront, but at $239.99 with a $29.99 setup fee, it feels like too much. The global plan is really too expensive at $39.99 per month, with the same setup fee. Of course you get free equipment, and in the case of the phone, you get what you pay for.
There is a 30-day money back guarantee, which is good because the cancelation fees are pretty high, and there's no pro-rated refund on the annual plan. You'll pay at least $59.99 to cancel after 30 days, and the terms of service indicate you'll probably pay a rebate recovery fee on the equipment too (a $40.00 value).
We will close on a positive note. The US-based customer service was great, and they were very friendly. They did a lot to try and accommodate us, which we appreciate.
VoIP.com Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
With a name like Voip.com, it should be the be-all and end-all of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Despite the fact that the company takes its name for the technology itself, it hasn't developed the name recognition of more well-known competitors like Vonage and Skype. In our tests, it falls between these two companies, in both price and service.
Their unlimited residential calling plan comes in two terms, either Yearly Unlimited for $199 per year (equal to $16.58 per month), or Monthly Unlimited at $19.95 per month. There are no setup fees on the yearly plan beyond the usual mandated taxes and fees. There's a $29.95 set-up fee on the monthly. The unlimited calling is limited to the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Once we received the minimally packaged VoIP adapater, VoIP.com's setup was easy enough, though you must get the instructions online. Don't follow the link that comes on the welcome note; you'll need to do a search for "installation" on www.voip.com. After that, it's pretty easy though, and we were up and running with the standard Linksys adapter in a matter of minutes.
There are no surprises with Voip.com's call quality. Call quality is just what we've come to expect from a VoIP provider. We did not notice a big lag between dialing and ringing, similar to what we experienced with ViaTalk.
There's a 30-day money back guarantee, and a low cancellation fee of $39.95 if you cancel after that, though there's no prorated refund on the yearly plan. Our experiences with customer service were generally very good, though there was a glitch. Phone support is offered from 9:00am to 9:00pm (EST). I guess we placed our first call too close to closing time (at 8:00pm), because we would get continually dropped. Calling earlier the next day, we received very capable and friendly phone support with barely any wait at all.
Voip.com used to be considered a good value, but plans from ViaTalk and others have trumped it a bit. Its calling features are not quite advanced. In particular, while you can select to receive voicemail notifications via email, but there's no audio file of the voice mail included as an attachment, a fairly common feature with other providers. Also, when checking voicemail online, we had to listen to our messages with a media player, instead of through the web interface. It also lacks some of Vonage's features, at least in number. There are still 20+ features though, including all the basics like caller id block, call forwarding, and three-way calling.
While Voip.com's rates are descent and the customer service is great, there's something about the service that's not well put-together. It's little things here and there, such as the wrong web address on the instructions, the incorrect phone number on the cancelation page, and the fact that our phone number was suddenly dropped (they blame a carrier error, and they did give us an option for a new number or a fix). None of this is terrible news, but it does give us some pause.
VYL Media Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
VYL stands for VoIP Your Life, and while the name may be silly, they do a lot of things right. While their plans are not the cheapest, they probably win the award as the most no-nonsense VoIP provider we reviewed. This is not to say they're perfect, their rates are a little high, but we certainly like the way they do business.
Setup is pretty easy, and is easily outlined in the included instructions. The VoIP converter is the standard Lynksis model and it comes a little generically packaged. That's ok, since that packaging will just end up in the recycling later. Not everything has to be an Apple-inspired exercise it packaging fetishism.
Once set up, we found the call quality bright and clear. If you don't dial a 1 before the area code (even on local calls) there will be 10-second dialing delay. Otherwise, calls go through quickly.
If the packaging is lackluster, so is the VYL Media site. This is only important for certain bits of account management. The service also only includes 18 calling features, versus Vonage's 30, though we'd be hard pressed to tell you that this is a deal breaker.
The chief disadvantage with VYL Media is actually the cost. The Premier Global Unlimited plan is $29.95 per month and covers close to 40 countries.
The Premier Unlimited is the USA and Canada plan, and that runs you $23.97 per month. If you just want 500 minutes to the USA and Canada it's $14.97 per month. There's a low activation fee of $19.95 for any of the above plans. If you want to pay for a year up front you'll get free activation and two months of free service. It still comes out to 299.70 plus about $45 in unavoidable regulatory fees (this is part for the course with VoIP).
What really impresses us about VYL media is the terms of the contract. It's all month-to-month with no disconnect or rebate recover fees (just send back the equipment when you're done). Some companies will charge you as much as $100 if you leave inside of twelve months, but not VYL Media. If you cancel the yearly plan, there's a prorated refund for unused months (calculated at the discount fee).
Something else impressed us about VYL Media: the customer service. VYL Media's 24/7, non-outsourced tech support is fast and friendly. We were very surprised when we dialed their customer service line and reached an actual person; while we encountered some recorded hold messages, we never once encountered a computerized menu system. This is a rarity.
All told, the prices are a bit high, particularly compared to Vonage or Lingo. But we were so impressed with the quality of the calling, the great customer service, and the honesty of the terms, we're tempted to say it's worth every penny, particularly if you hate commitment.
The following countries are included in the Global plan. The ** denotes that calls to cellular phones are included.
Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil (Rio De Janiero, Sao Paolo)
Canada **
Chile
China **
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong **
Hungary (Budapest)
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Mexico (Mexico City, Monterey, Guadalajara)
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Puerto Rico **
Portugal
Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg)
Singapore **
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
United Kingdom
US Virgin Islands
US Virgin Isl **
Vatican City
Venezuela (Caracas)
Skype Phone Review: VoIPGo to Site | Back to Chart
Skype is famous for its free computer-to-computer calling. Skype also offers an inexpensive monthly calling plan that allows you to use your computer for unlimited calls to landlines in 47 countries (and cell phones in five others, including the United States). At $12.95 per month, that's the cheapest unlimited calling we've seen. Those wanting to call only in the U.S. and Canada can see the cost go down to $5.95 per month. But you'll have to make calls from your computer. Want to cut the computer out of the equation? An optional Skype cordless phone liberates you from the computer entirely. While the plan is cheaper, the phone is not. So is it worth the cost?
If you want to use Skype without having to leave your computer on, you'll need a Skype cordless phone. The cheapest, the RTX Dualphone 3088, is $169.99, probably more than you paid for your last cordless phone, or even your cell phone. The good news is that it handles both landline and Skype calls, which is necessary since Skype does not support emergency calls and does not offer a call-in number for free. That will be an additional $30.00 a year. Of course, with your landline plugged in, you can still receive calls on your regular phone number. Like all VoIP, Skype is incompatible with most home security systems.
The Skype Phone looks good, though in many respects it resembles a cell phone circa 2003. It has a pretty light build quality. A color screen gives it its air of polish. It provides access to your Skype contacts as well as other bits of info you might find useful. It's also how you log in. When you make a call you're asked whether you want to use Skype or your landline (assuming you have one connected). The base station is a flat, black plastic box which connects to your router. There's an additional charging station too. So you'll need two electrical outlets.
The call quality, unfortunately, is not great. Our calls sounded both loud and muffled. It really seems to be a problem with the phone. We tried calling using both the landline and the VoIP. While the landline was slightly less compressed-sounding, we noticed the same loud-muffled call quality. The same service sounded better when we used the free iPhone app with the same paid service. In general we don't have a problem with Skype's call quality, but the phone is a decided step down from other Skype calling methods.
A word or two should be said about customer service. Skype, for all its chirpy friendliness, does not offer a number to call for customer service. While the help section is extensive, the contact methods are few and limited. The site states the phone can be returned within 14-days of delivery. Since the plan is month-to-month, you don't have to worry about charges past the month that you've paid for, if you decide to cancel. We're unsure if there's any refund possible with the annual Skype phone number.
In many ways, it's unfair to put Skype here. Even Skype tells you that Skype shouldn't replace your landline. But given the popularity of the service and that the hardware tries to bridge that gap between VoIP and landline we've included it. However, adding up the cost of the sub-standard phone ($169.99) and the service ($12.95 or $5.95 per month, not to mention the optional Skype number), we think the cost is too high. This is particularly true because you'll still be paying for your landline. Another option for iPhone users is to download the free Skype app, and just go with a monthly plan.
List of countries covered by the Skype Unlimited World plan. The ** indicates that calls to mobiles are also included:
Argentina NEW
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada*
China*
Chile
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guam
Hong Kong*
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea, Republic of
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey)
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Russia (Moscow and St.Petersburg only)
Singapore*
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand*
United Kingdom
USA*
